Waging Work

V Energy

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1 Generally the management of many is the same as the management of a few. It is a matter of organization.

Establishing 3 man teams, 5 man crews, 8 man mix, combining the leadership of a group, a journeyman as the pace setter of each 3 man team, a lead man with each 5 man team and a foreman with each 8 man mix allows the ramp up of crews to a site superintendent over 5 foremen, and an area superintendent over 5 site superintendents, a general superintendent over 5–8 area superintendents and an operations manager over 3–5 general superintendents. This format or similar structures that fit your effective ratio of supervision to tradesman is the structure of your operations organization.

The support staff structure demands the organization’s discipline as well, managing not only the administrative talent but the correspondence between the field and support staff to establish the minimum protocols required to make the project flow.

All respective production leaders working within the discipline demands of the company are required to respect the same rules. This maintains a consistent, coordinated line of communication to the support group, choreographed by the operations manager, all in sync with each other, all performing to the same expectations… Allowing the many to be managed as easily as a few.

2 And to control many is the same as to control a few. This is a matter of formations and signals.

In managing a host of thousands in battle in Sun Tzu’s time, banners and flags, gongs and drums were used to order advance or retreat. In our battles, we have the technology of cell phones, radios and e-mail. What is critical though is that which needs to be communicated. What vital information does your operation need to meet the demands of the project’s schedule and budget? What form of communication is required to carry essential information for the key members of the field, to and from the support staff?

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Materials, equipment, manpower needs, schedule adjustments, the order of production, this key information transfer is what’s needed to support the formations in the field. The communication must be consistent, accurate, with a near immediate response time.

3 That the army is certain to sustain the enemy’s attack without suffering defeat is due to operations of the extra ordinary and the normal forces.

The extraordinary forces can be the initial move on crew that sets the project up for the main force to follow, or a specific crew of particular skills that work exceptionally as a unit, or a small contingency of men who work overtime to prep for the next day’s move on.

4 Troops thrown against the enemy as a grindstone against eggs is an example of a solid acting upon a void.

The process of throwing the force of your crews against a project that is ready for you, where you have the materials and equipment engaged in the right sequence will serve the example of a “solid against a void.” When your field is properly dispatched, and the order of production is understood, the momentum will develop with little effort.

5 Generally in battle, use the normal force to engage, the extraordinary to win.

6 Now the resources of those skilled in the use of extra ordinary forces are as infinite as the heavens and earth; as inexhaustible as the flow of great rivers.

7 For they end and recommence: cyclical, as are the movement of the sun and moon. They die away and are reborn; recurrent, as are the passing seasons.

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The combination of using the extra ordinary forces with the ordinary will give the project a consistent flow. The mobilizations of a small contingency with special skills, moving on and off as the project’s details require will keep the flow going. When the special needs of the project are met these forces can then blend in with the main group on that site, or be dispatched to another project in need of the same support; it all depends on the nature of your battle.

8 The musical notes are only 5 in number but their melodies are so numerous that one cannot hear them all.

9 The Primary colors are only three in number but their combinations are so infinite that one cannot visualize them all.

So too are the different combinations of teams and talent, crew size and mix, combinations of equipment and hardware, assembled in a rising surge of talent to meet the immediate needs of the project… in the process developing a work of art.

Dispatch to projects the particular talent demanded by the project. Dispatch by man, by name and by skill. Know the skills of your men, and the demands of the jobs that need those particular skills. Don’t just take the first 8 men that are in front of the dispatch line and send them out… That would be too ordinary.

10 The flavors are only 5 in number but their blends are so various that one cannot taste them all.

11 In battle there are only the normal and extraordinary forces, but their combinations are limitless; none can comprehend them all.

12 For these two forces are mutually reproductive; their interactions as endless as that of interlocked rings. Who can determine where one ends and the other begins.

When you are manning a project with normal forces and a section of the project requires special conditions needing specific skills, an extraordinary force is needed to be assembled to confront these tasks. Pull men with specific skills from your roster and assign them to the base crew already manning the project, blending them into the mix.

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As the work on the special condition is completed the special team can be folded back into the “base” crew making the extraordinary ordinary but with potential, if needed, as the conditions demand.

13 When torrential water tosses boulders it is because of its momentum.

14 When the hawk breaks the back of its prey it is because of timing.

15 Thus the momentum of one skilled in war is overwhelming and his attack precisely regulated.

Timing supports momentum; you can’t have momentum without timing. The crashing through a project with your crews is as a wave washing through a valley. Wait for the strike, once the time is right, move in and through the available space the project has left exposed.

16 His potential is that of a fully drawn cross bow; his timing the release of the trigger.

17 In the tumult and uproar the battle seems chaotic, but there is no disorder; the troops appear to be milling about in circles but cannot be defeated.

A project under full swing may seem chaotic to those not familiar with the dust caused by production, but it should not seem that way to the production leader. He should know the location to stage the materials he knows are coming if working his crews across the project with the appropriate “economy of force.” If the formations are in place and the “order of production” is known, the project will be running smartly. If not you will have chaos as the site appears to the outsider.

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The degree of order on a job site reflects the organization method of the prime contractor managing the site. Investigating the ground is part of the due diligence in getting to know your enemy. If there is debris lying about, mixed with trash in un-graded roads and undisciplined stockpiles of material, no control of parking and radios blaring and dogs running about then you can expect trouble.

As the prime contractor runs the discipline of his site so will be the method of his direction.

Don’t fall victim and mirror disorder when present, stand out and hold your men to a more respectable representation set in your disposition.

18 Apparent confusion is a product of good order, apparent cowardice of courage, apparent weakness of strength.

In negotiating on site for position, money, or time with the project’s management team, or other trades, maintain a low profile. Position yourself with a humble posture until the actual confrontation takes place, then bare the blade. You will get their attention. The challenging entity lulled into thinking that you have no fight in you will do little to prepare. By his thinking your position is weak he will be unprepared to counter your battery of support for your cause.

19 Order or disorder depends on organization; courage on circumstances; strengths or weakness on disposition.

Whenever a production leader is confused it is typically because he is disorganized, whenever a production leader has no hesitation in his actions it is because the circumstances that have presented themselves were expected and he has planned and prepared for them.

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Whenever a company’s presence on a site is commanding control of the project it is because the disposition of the company’s leaders have promoted and demanded the discipline to perform no other way.

20 Thus those skilled at making the enemy move do so by creating a situation to which he must conform; they entice him with something he is certain to take, and with lures of ostensible profit they await him in strength.

By positioning yourself with preparation and a field of talent you put the project on the run. The job has no option but to fold over itself and submit to your field. With proper timing and liquid strategy you will be able to adjust to whatever last ditch defense the job throws at you allowing you to pause and regroup, and move again as the job opens up and exposes its weak points.

21 Therefore a skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates.

22 He selects his men and they exploit the situation.

A properly set up project will establish the victory, as long as the quality of the effort of your men matches the discipline that you insist on in preparation. Your flow through the project will not depend on the men under you to carry the effort; the amount of energy you need to generate will be less because you are taking the path of least resistance to engage.

It is understood that the mix of your field will have a combination of work ethics, from a loser of an owner’s brother-in-law as a foreman, to an agitated ‘job steward’ in a distant local, to the man that has been promoted beyond his abilities. Aggravation accompanies managing these individuals. Placement needs to be considered, as well as the expectations for their performance.

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Tu Mu states “Do not demand accomplishment from those who have no talent.” Just remember to hire slow…and fire fast.

24 He who relies on the situation uses his men in fighting as one rolls logs or stones. Now the nature of logs or stones is that on stable ground they are static, on unstable ground they move if square they stop if round they roll.

25 Thus the potential of troops skillfully commanded in battle may be compared to that of the round boulders, which roll down from mountain heights.

The longer the boulder rolls the more energy it will mass. The better placed the boulder the less effort it takes to start it on its path. The longer you get a good run on your project the longer your men will smash through the project. You can feel the thumping underfoot, it’s felt in your gut when you have it, and tears at your gut when you don’t.

Momentum is easier to establish from the start of an operation than it is to regain it if lost. For this reason Momentum must be a focus of attention and protected.